A new short course being offered at Brock University aims to teach skills needed to help address some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Delivered over four sessions, Foundations in Social Innovation Skills will offer an introduction to different types of social innovation as well as the skills needed to become a socially innovative thinker.

The course will focus on how to identify social innovation problems, the skills needed to address those issues and how to handle potential barriers to the social innovation process.

Social innovation is about “creating solutions that put people and the planet first, and enhancing collaboration across government, business and the non-profit world,” says Wesley Helms, Associate Professor in Strategic Management and Social Innovation at Brock’s Goodman School of Business. “Social innovation is an increasingly relevant topic in our workplaces and communities.”

Course participants will learn key skills and frameworks needed to identify and tackle social innovation challenges, whether working in government, business or the non-profit sector.

To provide insight into real-world social innovation challenges, the course will integrate a community partner into the cases, exercises and problems being explored. The course’s first partner will be Goodwill Niagara, with sessions looking at challenges surrounding the charitable donation of goods and thrift stores.

“A lot of what we’ll be focusing on is how to become a socially innovative changemaker and the skills that are needed to solve the social and environmental challenges that will be confronting us in our workplaces and daily lives,” Helms says.

In addition to his role at Brock, Helms is also a Research Fellow at the Center for Social Innovation at the University of Cambridge, which is a partner in developing the course.

Foundations in Social Innovation Skills will be offered in four in-person sessions March 21, 23, 28 and 30, each from 4 to 6 p.m. at Brock’s main campus.

The course is open to Brock students as well as the wider community. Participants who successfully complete all the course requirements will be awarded a Certificate of Completion.

Registration for Foundations in Social Innovation Skills is open and offered through the Brock LINC. Cost is $49 plus tax for Brock students and $99 plus tax for community members.

For questions about the course, please contact Brock LINC Program Manager Cassie Conte at cconte@brocku.ca